- 1 hour 2 minutesBuilding Integrity in the Age of Normalized Cheating
What happens to integrity when cheating becomes easier and the world seems to reward people for cutting corners? In this episode of The Curiosity Shop, Adam shares what happened when he discovered that students were planning to use AI to cheat on an exam. Brené and Adam move into a much larger conversation about honesty, character, and moral identity. Together, they explore when using AI is inherently cheating, why monitoring people isn’t enough to make them trustworthy, the difference between shame and adaptive guilt, and what research reveals about building a stronger moral compass. They also unpack why honor codes can sometimes backfire, how inconsistent accountability undermines trust, and what dimension of character we often overlook. Ultimately, Brené and Adam explore the difference between wanting to be seen as a good person and choosing to become the kind of person who does the right thing even when no one else is watching.
Cheating: Why Students Do It and How We Can Help Them Stop – Donald McCabe, 2001, American Educator
Brené Brown: The Rage Bucket Theory – Trevor Noah, June 4, 2026, What Now? with Trevor Noah
Pickleball Line Rules: Calling the Ball “In” or “Out” – PlayPickleball.com, July 31, 2024, YouTube
How Handwriting Trains the Brain – Gwendolyn Bounds, October 5, 2010, The Wall Street Journal
Moral Emotions and Moral Behavior – Tangney et al., 2007, Annual Review of Psychology
Shame and Guilt – Tangney & Dearing, 2002, Guilford Press
Shame v. Guilt – Brené Brown, January 14, 2013, brenebrown.com
The Honor Committee – University of Virginia, honor.virginia.edu
Bicentennial Analysis – UVA Honor Committee, 2019, University of Virginia
Trump Reports Over $1 Billion in Income From Crypto Ventures – TIME, June 30, 2026, TIME
Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 – U.S. Congress, 2012, Pub. L. No. 112-105
This Is Your Brain on Drugs – Partnership for a Drug-Free America, 1987, YouTube
Beyond Pleasure and Pain – Higgins, 1997, American Psychologist
Self-Discrepancy: A Theory Relating Self and Affect – Higgins, 1987, Psychological Review
Possible Selves – Markus & Nurius, 1986, American Psychologist
The BRAVING Inventory – Brené Brown, brenebrown.com
An Integrative Model of Organizational Trust – Mayer et al., 1995, Academy of Management Review
Integrity Is Choosing Courage Over Comfort – Brené Brown, brenebrown.com
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones – James Clear, 2018, Avery
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27 August 2026, 9:00 am - 40 minutes 42 secondsBrené Brown on Protecting our Attention, Time, and Humanity in a World that Won’t Slow Down
In this solo episode of The Curiosity Shop, Brené Brown turns to questions and comments from her LinkedIn community to explore what it means to protect our humanity and attention in a world moving faster than ever. She digs into where AI can support our work without replacing human discernment, why "work slop" costs leaders real cognitive bandwidth, and how leaders can tell the difference between polished output and actual understanding. Brené also unpacks Aiko Bethea's idea that transformation requires grief, reflects on what her conversation with Rebecca Lowe revealed about preparation and presence, and explores how pausing and active listening are essential parts of meaningful conversation. Along the way, she explains why she wears two watches and shares the story of getting fired from a house-cleaning job… and the unexpected lesson it taught her about why shiny can never replace mastery.
Brené Brown — Brené Brown, LinkedIn (Profile)
Adam Grant — Adam Grant, LinkedIn (Profile)
On Death and Dying — Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, 1969, Macmillan (Book)
Multitasking: Switching Costs — American Psychological Association, 2006, APA
Center for Humane Technology — Center for Humane Technology, humanetech.com
Kairos: The Right Moment or Occasion — Barbara Baert, Institute for Advanced Study
The History of the Elgin National Watch Company — Times Ticking, timesticking.com
Aiko Bethea — Aiko Bethea, aikobethea.com
RARE Coaching & Consulting — Aiko Bethea, rarecoaching.net
Rebecca Lowe Bio & Career Accomplishments — FOX Sports, FOX Sports
Dare to Lead Hub — Brené Brown, brenebrown.com
The Curiosity Shop with Brené Brown and Adam Grant — YouTube (Channel)
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20 August 2026, 9:00 am - 57 minutes 19 secondsCan We Build an “Us” Without a “Them”? with John Green
Is it possible to build a community without a 'them'? Author, YouTuber, and podcaster John Green joins Brené Brown and Adam Grant for a wide-ranging conversation on belonging, friendship, and the systems that shape our lives. Together, they explore why sports can create such powerful communities, whether it’s possible to build an “us” without needing a “them,” and why shared projects can help relationships last for decades. John reflects on the challenges of young adulthood, what he learned from working as a hospital chaplain, and why supporting someone in pain sometimes means resisting the urge to fix it. The conversation also moves through why frictionless access, not just awareness, is essential to helping people get the care they need, the role coaches can play in athletes’ well-being, and John’s upcoming novel Hollywood, Ending.
Hollywood, Ending - John Green, September, 2026, hollywoodendingbook.com
CrashCourse - Hank Green & John Green, YouTube
Demonic males: Apes and the origins of human violence - Wrangham & Peterson, 1996, Houghton Mifflin.
The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex - Charles Darwin, 1871/1999, Project Gutenberg
Roger Bennett – Men in Blazers Media Network
Developmental Sequence in Small Groups - Bruce W. Tuckman, 1965, Psychological Bulletin
Single-Session Interventions for Mental Health Problems and Service Engagement: Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses - Jessica Schleider et al., 2025, Annual Review of Clinical Psychology
Administrative Burdens in the Social Safety Net - Herd and Moynihan, 2024, Journal of Economic PerspectivesThe Inverse Care Law - Julian Tudor Hart, 1971, The Lancet
Rebooting Psychotherapy Research and Practice to Reduce the Burden of Mental Illness - Alan E. Kazdin & Stacey L. Blase, 2011, Perspectives on Psychological Science
Are Mental Health Awareness Efforts Contributing to the Rise in Reported Mental Health Problems? A Call to Test the Prevalence Inflation Hypothesis - Lucy Foulkes & Jack L. Andrews, 2023, New Ideas in PsychologyMeet the Genius Behind America’s Best Roadside Attraction - Show and Tell, Atlas Obscura, YouTube
Kate Bowler - Kate Bowler, katebowler.com
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13 August 2026, 9:00 am - 1 hour 24 minutesLeading Under Pressure with Rebecca Lowe
What does it take to stay calm when millions are watching? Rebecca Lowe, the host of NBC’s Premier League coverage and Fox’s record-breaking 2026 World Cup broadcast, joins Brené Brown and Adam Grant to explore why preparation—not confidence—is her real superpower; the weight of being one of the only women in the room; and what it really means to lead when things get chaotic. Together, they unpack the difference between presence and preparedness, the “permission slip” moment that defines great leadership, and why the loudest person in the room isn’t always the one in charge. Along the way, Rebecca reflects on breaking barriers in a male-dominated industry, how she earns trust from personalities like Zlatan Ibrahimović, and the teachable habit she uses to keep her co-hosts focused on live TV.
The Return of Coach Lasso – NBC Sports, 2014, YouTube
Nessun Dorma, Rome 1990 – Luciano Pavarotti, 1990, YouTube
Double Standards for Competence – Martha Foschi, 2000, Annual Review of Sociology
"Executive Presence" Is Overrated – Adam Grant & Brené Brown, 2025, Instagram
Beyond Nine to Five – Lieke ten Brummelhuis, 2017, Academy of Management Discoveries
Can Your Employees Really Speak Freely? – James Detert, 2016, Harvard Business Review
Trailblazing Motivation and Marginalized Group Members – Karren Knowlton, 2025, Organization Science
Bullet Time Effect in "Sherlock" the BBC TV Series – Moffat & Gattiss, January 14, 2014, BBC/YouTube
Conversational Style – Deborah Tannen, 2005, Oxford University Press
Who Won't Shut Up in Meetings? – Adam Grant, 2021, The Washington Post
Dare to Lead read-along workbook (Permission Slips) – Brené Brown, 2021, Brené Brown, LLC
Tell Me What I Did Wrong – Stacey Finkelstein, 2012, Journal of Consumer Research
Emotional Contagion – Elaine Hatfield, 1993, Current Directions in Psychological Science
Huge If True – Cleo Abram, YouTube
Range – David Epstein, 2019, Riverhead Books
Hidden Potential – Adam Grant, 2023, Viking
What Being Sober Has Meant to Me – Brené Brown, 2019, brenebrown.com
The Gifts of Imperfection – Brené Brown, 2010, Hazelden Publishing
The Queen Bee Phenomenon – Belle Derks, 2016, The Leadership Quarterly
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6 August 2026, 9:00 am - 1 hour 12 minutesWhy Sports Matter Even When the Game Doesn’t with Roger Bennett
Why do sports make us cry, unite strangers, and create memories that last a lifetime? In this episode, Men in Blazers founder and CEO Roger Bennett joins Brené Brown and Adam Grant fresh off a 39-day World Cup marathon to explore what the tournament revealed about identity, belonging, and the power of collective effervescence. Together, they unpack the difference between hero players and hero teams, what it means to be a true fan, the political complexities surrounding the World Cup, and how sports create shared experiences that shape our lives. Along the way, Roger shares stories from the road, reflects on the strange grief of “World Cup withdrawal,” and revisits some of the tournament’s most memorable stories, including Erling Haaland’s taxidermy shop detour, the Cape Verde goalkeeper who became a global icon overnight, the controversial red card reversal, and more.
Roger Bennett – Men in Blazers Media Network
The Kansas City fanwalk had us all like… – OnsOranje, Royal Dutch Football Association
The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Football Is Wrong – Anderson & Sally, 2013, Penguin
Men in Blazers - “The Women’s Game” and “Vamos” (Platform links) – The Men in Blazers Media Network
Who Belongs? Football and the Reinvention of the Modern Nation – Josh Wilson, 2026, TIME
The definition of a true fan – Adam Grant, Instagram
Folarin Balogun's lifted suspension – Roger Bennett, CBS Morning News, Instagram
Human challenges in polar and space environments – Sandal et al., 2006, Springer
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30 July 2026, 9:00 am - 1 hour 3 minutesThe Framework for Leading With Both Care and Accountability
This episode is a master class in coaching as Aiko Bethea, one of the most respected senior leadership coaches in the country, takes Brené through a current leadership conflict in real time, showing just how hard it is to slow down and lead from your values instead of your urgency. The coaching session is underpinned by Aiko's new "Anchored, Aligned, and Accountable" framework that focuses on why self-leadership is so critical in today's complex operating environment. Together, they dig into the difference between assuming good intent and believing someone is doing the best they can, and why that distinction changes what accountability actually looks like in practice. Aiko also introduces and models the powerful coaching practice of "three levels of listening" and how it's central to developing a coaching mindset.
Aiko Bethea — Aiko Bethea, aikobethea.com
Dare to Lead Hub — Brené Brown, brenebrown.com
Audre Lorde — Mariana Brandman, 2021, National Women's History Museum
bell hooks — Asami Robledo-Allen Yamamoto, 2025, National Women's History Museum
RARE Coaching | Aiko Bethea (@rare_coach) — Aiko Bethea, n.d., Instagram
This Is Our Reminder of What Courageous Leadership Looks Like — Brené Brown, 2026, LinkedIn
One of the Greatest Joys of My Career Has Been… — Brené Brown, 2026, LinkedIn
Futurist Amy Webb on What's Coming (and What's Here) — Brené Brown, 2024, Dare to Lead podcast
Rising Strong — Brené Brown, 2015, Random House
Post on Learning and Development (#learninganddevelopment) — Aiko Bethea, 2026, LinkedIn
Dare to Lead — Brené Brown, 2018, Random House
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23 July 2026, 9:00 am - 38 minutes 34 secondsYou Don't Get an A for Effort
Previously released on Dare to Lead, this is part of a special six-part series with Adam Grant on Brené's book, Strong Ground. Brené and Adam unpack the difference between effort and excellence, why coaching matters more than judgment, and how unclear priorities can quietly derail even the hardest-working teams. From there the conversation moves further into prioritization, a consequential 2x2 decision-making framework, and how leaders inadvertently signal the wrong priorities through their emotional reactions. Circling back to effort, they also discuss why the first question leaders should ask when results fall short is whether they set their team up for success in the first place. Plus, Brené has a real-time realization that her own team may not be aligned on what's actually consequential.
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know – Adam Grant, 2021, Viking
No, You Don't Get an A for Effort – Adam Grant, 2024, The New York Times
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success – Carol Dweck, 2006, Random House
What Having a “Growth Mindset” Actually Means – Carol Dweck, 2016, Harvard Business Review
“Both/And” Leadership – Wendy Smith, 2016, Harvard Business Review
Genius of the AND – Jim Collins, n.d., JimCollins.com
Reversible and Irreversible Decisions – Shane Parrish, n.d., Farnam Street
Above/Below the Line Practice – Brené Brown, 2025, BrenéBrown.com
Fairy Tales and Script Drama Analysis – Stephen Karpman, 1968, Transactional Analysis Bulletin (Origin paper for the villain/rescuer/victim model of conflict)
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16 July 2026, 9:00 am - 37 minutes 37 secondsTime Scarcity and Pocket Presence
Previously released on Dare to Lead, this is part of a special six-part series with Adam Grant on Brené's book, Strong Ground. The conversation opens on time scarcity, the devaluation of future time, and whether hope is actually a strategy. From there they discuss how great leaders don't need all the right answers (just the right questions) and the difference between executive presence and pocket presence. While digging into how the five C's of delegation build the situational awareness and critical thinking that pocket presence requires, Adam has a breakthrough realization that pocket presence isn't just an individual skill, it's a collective capability. Executive presence, they agree, is "party of one."
Time for Happiness – Ashley Whillans, 2019, Harvard Business Review
The Will and the Ways – C. R. Snyder, 1991, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Hope Theory: Rainbows in the Mind – C. R. Snyder, 2002, Psychological Inquiry
Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting – David Laibson, 1997, The Quarterly Journal of Economics
Some Empirical Evidence on Dynamic Inconsistency – Richard Thaler, 1981, Economics Letters
The stranger within: Connecting with our future selves – Cynthia Lee
Stop Overdoing Your Strengths – Robert Kaplan, 2009, Harvard Business Review
Research: Vague Feedback Is Holding Women Back – Shelley Correll, 2016, Harvard Business Review
The New Rules of Executive Presence – Sylvia Ann Hewlett, 2024, Harvard Business Review
Pocket Presence (Video) – Emmanuel Acho, n.d., TikTok
Essential social work theories & models – Syracuse University, n.d., OnlineGrad@Syracuse
The 5 Cs of strategic thinking, decision making, and delegating – Brené Brown, n.d., brenebrown.com
Atomic Habits – James Clear, 2018, Avery
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9 July 2026, 9:00 am - 42 minutes 38 secondsSports as Leadership Theater and Recognizing Near Enemies
Previously released on Dare to Lead, this is part of a special six-part series with Adam Grant on Brené's book, Strong Ground. They dig into the Buddhist concept of near and far enemies- and why the biggest threat to your values isn't the opposite of them, it's what masquerades as them. From there they move into discussion around the value of paradoxical thinking, why some tensions aren't meant to be resolved, and why sports are leadership theater. Plus a conversation about why future time is always undervalued.
The Near Enemies of the Heart – Jack Kornfield, n.d., jackkornfield.com
Almost Everything: Notes on Hope – Anne Lamott, 2018, Riverhead Books (Chapter 2: “Inside Job”)
12 truths I learned from life and writing – Anne Lamott, July 13, 2017, TED (Video)
Genius of the AND – Jim Collins, n.d., jimcollins.com
Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning – James G. March, 1991, Organization Science
Putting Feelings Into Words – Lieberman et al., 2007, Psychological Science
How to Tame Reactive Emotions by Naming Them – Mitch Abblett, 2022, Psychology Today
Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule – Paul Graham, 2009, paulgraham.com
The Tush Push Explained – Kyle Brandt & Dr Neil DeGrasse Tyson, 2024, NFL (Video)
The Pre-Mortem Method – Gary Klein, 2021, Psychology Today
Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting – David Laibson, 1997, Quarterly Journal of Economics (PDF)
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2 July 2026, 9:00 am - 44 minutes 8 secondsCourageous Leadership as a Daily Practice
In this Re:Thinking podcast episode recorded at Authors@Wharton, Brené joined Adam to dig into her book, Strong Ground. They explore why courage now has to mean being a learner instead of a knower, and why values aren't just what you care about-- they're what you sacrifice for. The conversation moves through the four skill sets of courage, why a value that isn't operationalized into behavior is just a poster with an eagle on it, and how to use the "story I'm making up" framework for hard conversations. They also get into executive presence, vulnerability, care, and why fake courage is easy to spot.
Research – Brené Brown (n.d.).
The discovery of grounded theory – Glaser & Strauss, 1967, Aldine
Awareness of dying – Glaser & Strauss, 1965, Aldine
De-tabooing dying control – Thulesius et al., 2013, BMC Palliative Care
Never Split The Difference – Chris Voss, May 24, 2016, TEDx University of Nevada
Expectancy Theory (Victor Vroom) – The Decision Lab, (n.d.)
Dare to lead: List of values – Brené Brown, 2018
Dare to Lead Hub – Brené Brown
Brené Brown brings Dare to Lead program to UT – University of Texas at Austin, 2020, UT News
Neural processing of narratives – Jääskeläinen et al., 2020, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
The New Rules of Executive Presence – Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Jan-Feb 2024, Harvard Business Review
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25 June 2026, 9:00 am - 1 hour 21 minutesThe Highest Performance Strategy is Caring About People ft. Simon Sinek
In this episode of The Curiosity Shop, Brené Brown and Adam Grant sit down with their first-ever guest, Simon Sinek. Together, they explore the state of organizations globally, including the chaos hitting C-suites, the human cost of misaligned incentives, AI-driven layoffs, and leaders playing defense when they should be playing offense. They dig into what makes teams high-performing, why caring deeply about the people you lead isn't soft but essential, and what the military's culture of love and loyalty teaches us about business. The conversation also moves through nervous system regulation, shame and guilt in parenting and leadership, and what AI can or cannot replace about human connection. This episode is a reminder that the things we've been told to leave out of business, such as love, care, and human connection, may be the most important things we can bring to it.
The Old Order Is Dead. Do Not Resuscitate — Sven Beckert, November 4, 2025, The New York Times
A Friedman Doctrine — Milton Friedman, September 13, 1970, The New York Times Magazine
‘Take a simple idea and take it seriously’: Charlie Munger in his own words — Financial Times
The Inner Game of Tennis — W. Timothy Gallwey, 1974, Random House
Suppose We Took Groups Seriously… — Harold J. Leavitt, 1975, in Man and Work in Society
Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts — Brené Brown, 2018, Random House
Developing Brave Leaders and Courageous Cultures — Brené Brown, Dare to Lead hub
The Infinite Game — Simon Sinek, 2019, Portfolio/Penguin
Brené Brown: Focus on guilt instead of shame — 60 Minutes, March 29, 2020, YouTube
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